No. 13 Mules Football Hits the Road at Fort Hays State

WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Sept. 5, 2017) - Thirteenth ranked Mules Football takes their show on the road this week for another Thursday evening MIAA contest.

OPPONENT: Fort Hays State (1-0, 1-0 MIAA)

WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 7, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Hays, Kan. - Lewis Field Stadium

ON THE AIR
• The game will be broadcast on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler calling the action. The Tailgate Show will begin at 5:50 p.m. on the UCM Sports Network.
• The game will also be webcast online through Central Missouri's Blueframe Internet portal at http://www.themiaanetwork.com/ucmmules/. It is a pay-per-view webcast. MIAA Network content is available live via live DVR and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing after each event. 
• All MIAA football games are also available for viewing on The MIAA Network Apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. 

KICKOFF
• The 13th-ranked Central Missouri Mules hit the road for the first time this season Thursday, Sept. 7 against the Fort Hays State (RV) from Lewis Field Stadium at 7 p.m. 
• Central Missouri defeated Pittsburg State in their season opener 28-23 last Thursday, helped out by 19 unanswered second-half points. 
• Fort Hays State also won their first game of the season last week, defeating Missouri Southern 48-7 in Joplin. This is one of only two matchups pitting two 1-0 teams against each other in the MIAA.
• In the preseason coaches and media polls, UCM was selected to finish third in both, which would match their place from a year ago. The Tigers were fifth in both polls. 
• Central Missouri finished 2016 at 4-1 on the road last year, with their only loss coming in the NCAA Playoffs against Harding. UCM is 26-14 all time on the road with Coach Svoboda on the sidelines. 
• The Mules were 5-1 at home last season and are 30-9 in Coach Svoboda's seven years. Central Missouri plays five home games in 2017, but only four in Warrensburg. 

STORY LINES
• Central Missouri and Fort Hays State don't have the storied rivalry as the Mules and Gorillas. UCM is 9-4 all time against the Tigers, but FHSU has won two of the last three meetings. 
• Central Missouri's nine wins in 2016 is tied for third all-time in team history. The last time UCM won at least nine games was back in Coach Svoboda's first year of 2010, when the team went 11-3.
• The Mules play four of their 11 regular season games in Warrensburg this season (one home game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City). In the last eight seasons (including 2017) they have played more games on the road in six of them. 
• The Mules have finished each of the last 10 seasons with a winning record after their 9-3 mark in 2016 and have now done so in 18 of the last 19 seasons as well. 

MULES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• UCM opened up the season ranked 21st in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) preseason poll, and moved up eight spots this week to No. 13. 
• Under head coach Jim Svoboda the Mules have been ranked in the AFCA Poll 30 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of five times.

SERIES HISTORY
• 2017 will mark just the 14th all time meeting between these two schools. Central Missouri leads the all-time series 9-4. The two teams first played in 1964 and 1965 with FHSU winning both. They have since played every year since 2006 and UCM has gone 9-2 with the Tigers in the MIAA. 

LAST MEETING WITH FORT HAYS STATE
• Fort Hays State came to Warrensburg for the Mules home opener in Sept. 2016 and the Mules ended a brief two-game losing streak to the Tigers with a 34-17 win. 
• UCM scored two first-quarter touchdowns to jump ahead 14-0 early and never looked back. Jaylen Zachery caught both TD passes, a 58 yard catch and run and a 13 yard score. He finished the day with 106 yards on six catches. 
• The Mules also scored two rushing touchdowns and totaled 208 yards on the ground including 117 from Xavier Washpun. 

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Fort Hays State also won their season opener, a 48-7 drubbing of Missouri Southern. With the win the Tigers started to receive votes in the AFCA poll. 
• Head Coach Chris Brown is in his seventh season with the Tigers and is 39-30 overall. The Tigers finished a high of third in the MIAA in 2015 and have been no lower than tied for fourth in each of the last three years. 
• After just one week, Fort Hays State is at the top of the MIAA in most offensive categories. They scored the most points (48) and gained the second most yards (487) in week one while also allowing the third fewest points (7) and second fewest yards (219). 
• Fort Hays is also at the top of some NCAA rankings. Their 48 points scored were the 12th most in Division II while on 10 teams allowed fewer than seven points. With 325 yards passing, the Tigers threw for the 19th most yards in the NCAA in week one. 
• The Tigers defense had a nose for the football, stripping lose five Lion fumbles and recovering three of them. The three fumble recoveries are second most in D2. Despite the high number of forced fumbles, the Tigers did not intercept or sack the quarterback in their game against Missouri Southern. 
• Two quarterbacks saw action last Thursday. Jacob Mezera, who started for the Tigers last year in Warrensburg was 21-29 for 245 yards and two touchdowns. Jacoby Williams also saw action and completed six of seven passes for 80 yards and a score. 
• Neither Mezera or Williams did much running from the quarterback position. They left that to backs Kenneth Iheme and Isaiah Blackmon mostly. Iheme led the team with 68 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Blackmon averaged 7.6 yards per attempt with 53 yards on just seven carries. 
• Iheme also did some damage out of the backfield in the passing game. He secured five receptions for 33 yards. Layne Bieberle was the top pass catcher for the Tigers with 83 yards on six receptions, averaging 13.8 yards per catch. Three different Tigers caught a touchdown pass in the opener: Monterio Burchfield, Harley Hazlett and Andrew Jay. In total 10 different Tigers all caught a pass in the game against Missouri Southern. Bieberle also returns punts for the Tigers and took one 28 yards last Thursday. 
• Fort Hays State's 23 first downs were second most in week one as was their 53% conversion rate on third down. The Tigers picked up eight of 15 third down attempts while the Lions were successful on just three of 14. 
• The Tigers didn't rely much on the kicking game, but a pair of Browns helped them in both. Brandon Brown was good on both of his field goal attempts with a long of 39 and Dante Brown punted four times for an average of 39.2 with a long of 51. Brandon Brown was also good on all six of his PAT attempts. 

LAST TIME OUT
• Central Missouri opened their season last week with a 28-23 win over Pittsburg State. It is the first time in team history the Mules have won three straight games against the Gorillas. 
• Pittsburg State led 10-6 after one quarter and 16-9 heading into the half, but the Mules scored 19 unaswered points to comeback against the Gorillas, allowing just one TD in the second half which came with 1:23 left to play. 
• Brook Bolles made his first start at quarterback for the Mules and finished the game 15-37 for 226 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for 65 yards on 11 carries and scored a TD on the ground. 
• Koby Wilkerson and Devante Turner played their first games for UCM and the duo combined to rush for 186 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Wilkerson averaged 9.1 yards per carry and Turner broke the game open with a 50-yard rushing score. 
• Kolesen Crane led the Mules defense with nine tackles including 3.5 for a loss with two sacks and a forced fumble. 

SPRINT SPEED
• Central Missouri is perfectly fine with getting into a track meet with most teams. In fact, the Mules even employ some sprinters from the track team. Franklin Hunt made the finals of the MIAA Championships in the 100m dash in 2016. And he may not be the fastest on the football team. A race between Hunt, Kyrion Parker, Koby Wilkerson and Jaylen Zachery is sure to turn some heads. 
• UCM used that speed on their opening play against Pittsburg State when Parker blew past the secondary and caught a 45 yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. 

BACK AGAIN
• The Mules will have a lot of familiar faces back from the 2016 playoff team. They have 28 players coming back who have started at least one game in their career and 47 letterwinners. 
• Of those returning, 11 were named All-MIAA last year including First Teamer and Special Teams Player of the Year Jaylen Zachery. 
• The starting defense will see nine starters back from a year ago and that doesn't include former All-MIAA performer Austin Miller who played in only two games in 2016 before getting hurt. 

THE MULES IN MIAA PLAY
• The Mules finished 9-2 in conference play in 2016 and placed third in the league standings for the second consecutive season. 
• UCM now stands at 50-21 in conference games under Jim Svoboda.

THE MULES AT HOME
• The Mules went 5-1 at home in 2016 and 30-9 at home under Jim Svoboda.
• The Mules are 235-183-13 overall in their 86th season playing home games at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field.

THE MULES ON THE ROAD
• Central Missouri is 26-14 in road games during the Jim Svoboda era after falling in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs at Harding on Nov. 19.
• The Mules finished 2016 at 4-1 away from Warrensburg. They went a perfect 4-0 in true road games against MIAA opponents. 

WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF
• The Mules improved to 46-7 during the Jim Svoboda era when leading at halftime after their 2016 regular season finale against Lindenwood.
• The Mules are 9-17 all-time under Svoboda and 1-0 to start 2017 when trailing at halftime after picking up a come-from-behind win over Pittsburg State.

21 AND UP
• UCM is 55-12 under Jim Svoboda when scoring at least 21 points.
• When scoring 30 or more points, UCM is 53-6 during the Svoboda era and 30-1 when scoring 40 or more points.

SCORING STREAK CONTINUES
• Central Missouri scored on their opening possession against Pittsburg State last Thursday, extending their MIAA record streak of consecutive games without being shutout to 283.
• The streak dates back to week three of the 1991 season.

LIGHTNING AND LIGHTNING
• The Mules are never short on team speed and this year that is extending to their running backs. In their first game at UCM, Koby Wilkerson and Devante Turner picked up 257 total all-purpose yards. Wilkerson averaged 9.4 yards per carry with 122 yards on 13 attempts and Turner broke free with a 50 yard score late in the fourth quarter against PSU.

MULE KICKS
• The Mules employed a pair of first-time kickers against Pittsburg State. Alex Langer took over place kicking duties and was 3-3 on FG attempts with a long of 39.
• Punter Zach Davidson was also kicking in his first game at UCM. He punted five times with an average of 43.6 yards per punt and a long of 47. Davidson also downed three kicks inside the 20 yard line. 

2017 MIAA AND NCAA STAT LEADERS
• Koby Wilkerson was the only MIAA running back to scamper for more than 100 yards on opening night. His 122 yards leads the MIAA and is 32nd in the NCAA. Wilkerson rushed for 9.38 yards per carry Thursday night which is eighth most thus-far in Division II. 
• The Mules have three in the MIAA top-10 in rushing yards and are second as a team. Devante Turner is ninth in the league having rushed for 64 yards and quarterback Brook Bolles is 10th after rushing for 61. 
• Bolles' 226 yards through the air last week has him ranked fourth in the MIAA. Only four quarterbacks topped 200 yards passing. Bolles wasn't afraid to through it deep either, despite it being his first career start. He averaged 15.07 yards per completion which is third in the MIAA and 26th in Division II. 
• Playing in his first game with UCM, Kyrion Parker gained the third-most receiving yards in the MIAA with 88 on four receptions, averaging 22 yards per catch. 
• Defensively, Kolesen Crane's 3.5 tackles for loss are tied for the MIAA lead and have him ranked 12th in Division II. 
• Crane had one of five Mules sacks on the night which leads the MIAA and has them third in the nation. 

AROUND THE MIAA
• The league has five more games scheduled for Thursday night while Pittsburg State hosts Central Oklahoma Saturday night. 
• The MIAA again had three teams ranked in the AFCA top-25 and Fort Hays State was receiving votes. Northwest Missouri remained number one in the AFCA poll while the Mules climbed up to 13th and Emporia State fell from No. 4 to No. 15. 
• The other four matches Thursday evening are Northwest Missouri at Washburn at 6 p.m., Northeastern State at Lindenwood, Nebraska-Kearney at Emporia State and Missouri Southern at Missouri Western. The Mules and Tigers and Northwest Missouri and Washburn are the only matchup with two 1-0 teams. 

A WIN OVER FORT HAYS STATE WOULD...
• Start Central Missouri off at 2-0 for the second straight year and only the second time under Jim Svoboda. 
• Move UCM to 10-4 all-time against Fort Hays State and give them wins in back-to-back years against the Tigers. 
• Be the second straight week the Mules have defeated a team that is receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll. 

A LOSS TO FORT HAYS STATE WOULD...
• Drop UCM to 1-1 for the season. 
• Be the Mules' first MIAA road loss since falling to Hays in the regular season finale in 2015, 28-14. 
• Give Fort Hays State three wins in the last four matchups with UCM and put the Mules at 9-5 all-time against FHSU. 

MULES FOOTBALL HISTORY
• In the 120 seasons of UCM Football the Mules have compiled a 552-508-51 (.520) record in 1,106 total games.
• The Mules have won 10 or more games three times in the history of the program and have posted 12 seasons of eight or more wins.
• UCM won a school-record 11 games in Jim Svoboda's first season in 2010.
• UCM has won or shared 12 MIAA championships in school history with the last coming in 2003.
• The Mules have qualified for the postseason eight times in their history, including two trips to the NCAA-II Playoffs, the last coming in 2016.

SVOBODA AT THE HELM
• Central Missouri head coach Jim Svoboda has a record of 57-25 (.695) during his seven-plus seasons leading the Mules. He has led the Mules to three postseason appearances.
• He is third on UCM's career wins list.
• Svoboda's .695 winning percentage is the fourth highest for a UCM coach.
• UCM posted the second most wins in a two-year span in school history in Svoboda's first two seasons.
• The Mules appeared in the postseason in each of Svoboda's first two seasons. UCM made the NCAA-II Playoffs in year one under Svoboda and earned a bid to the Kanza Bowl in his second season. It is just the second time in school history that Mules Football has made back-to-back postseason appearances.
• UCM hosted the first ever playoff game in school history and won the school's first two playoff games in Svoboda's first season in 2010.
• The Mules have set or tied 83 school offensive records and 21 MIAA offensive records during Svoboda's tenure.
• The Mules became the first team in NCAA-II history to have a 5,000-yard passer (Eric Czerniewski) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Anthony Stewart) in the same season when they accomplished that feat in 2010.

MULES IN THE PROS
• There is one former Mule currently on an NFL roster. Tight end Delanie Walker is in his 12th season in the league and his fifth with the Tennessee Titans. Walker signed a four-year deal with the Titans, and a two-year extension through 2018, after playing in Super Bowl XLVII with San Francisco.
• Walker finished 2016 with 65 receptions for 800 yards and seven touchdowns, and has 405 catches for 4,814 yards with 31 touchdowns in his career.
• In 2015, he caught 94 passes for 1,088 yards, his first career 1,000 receiving yard season, and six touchdowns and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. He made the Pro Bowl for a second consecutive year in 2016 as well. 
• Walker was inducted into the UCM Athletics Hall of Fame in February 2015.

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
• Central Missouri has won a combined 211 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured three MIAA regular season titles, one MIAA Tournament crown and two NCAA Regional Championships.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 157 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won eight national championships during Hughes' tenure (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003, men's basketball in 2014, and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in 2015) and 10 national championships overall.
• In 2016, Central Missouri won the inaugural MIAA's Commissioner's Cup trophy for the conference's top overall athletic department. 

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM
• Central Missouri had 252 student-athletes named to the 2016-17 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 22 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Scholar Athletes with at least a 3.5 GPA and having earned all-MIAA honors in their respective sport.
• 20 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had five student-athletes earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in their respective sports. 
• All-time UCM is fourth in NCAA-II with 103 Academic All-Americans.
• Carly Thomas of Jennies Bowling was awarded prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships last year.

UP NEXT
• The Mules head back to Warrensburg for Family Weekend. They host Missouri Western Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. in their first afternoon game of the 2017 season.